Omnicom Group management check
OMC · Communication Services · Advertising · CEO John Wren
Filings as of
2 good · 3 to watch · 2 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Flag
Have owners done well?
Trailed its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $154, against $224 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Watch
Does pay follow performance?
Pay only loosely tracked returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.23 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
Paid in a loss-making year$69.9m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, a year the company lost $54.5m.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 0.3 years of payThe CEO holds 291,768 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 0.3 years of pay. Light activity: no buys, $123k sold in six months.
- Watch
Are owners being diluted?
Share count growingDiluted shares changed +0.9% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.6% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
5 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: John Wren. 5 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Communication Services.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 11 | 27 | |
| Pay for performance | 61 | 76 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 72 | |
| Skin in the game | 10 | 75 | |
| Dilution | 39 | 65 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 93 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Advertising, by management score. Omnicom Group is 16th of 18 in its sector.
- 22APPAppLovin85
- 394VZVerizon54
- 417DISWalt Disney Company (The)51
- 452OMCOmnicom Group46
- 464NWSANews Corp (Class A)42
- 483ECHOEchoStar31
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed March 26, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | John Wren | $69.9m | $67.9m | $7.1m | $154 | $224 | −$54.5m |
| 2024 | John Wren | $21.7m | $23.7m | $6.1m | $158 | $206 | $1.5bn |
| 2023 | John Wren | $20.2m | $24.8m | $7.0m | $155 | $168 | $1.4bn |
| 2022 | John Wren | $20.7m | $24.5m | $7.8m | $141 | $134 | $1.3bn |
| 2021 | John Wren | $20.0m | $28.0m | $7.3m | $122 | $147 | $1.4bn |
The board says pay is tied most to TSR. Its other key measures: Adjusted Return on Equity, Organic Growth, Adjusted Operating Margin, Adjusted Diluted EPS Growth, Adjusted EBITA Margin.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
John Wren (Chairman and CEO) held 291,768 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on May 22, 2026, roughly $21.9m at that filing's price.
Light activity: no buys, $123k sold in six months.
- SoldLinda Johnson RiceDirector$123kAug 24, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Oct 6, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 29, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 26, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 14, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 18, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 6, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 22, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Nov 1, 2021Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 8, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $5.6bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 102% of net income, and $443.4m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $14.3bn | $14.3bn | $14.7bn | $15.7bn | $17.3bn |
| Net income | $1.4bn | $1.3bn | $1.4bn | $1.5bn | −$54.5m |
| Stock-based pay | $84.7m | $81.7m | $84.8m | $91.4m | $100.8m |
| Buybacks | $527.3m | $611.4m | $570.8m | $370.7m | $707.9m |
| Dividends | $592.3m | $581.1m | $562.7m | $552.7m | $549.6m |
| Diluted shares | 216m | 207m | 201m | 199m | 205m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.